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external layer of the epidermis; and by boiling in sixteen parts of water they exude sufficient mucilage to form with the water a thick pasty decoction. The cotyledons contain the valuable linseed oil referred to below. Linseed grown in tropical countries is much larger and more plump than that obtained in temperate climes, but the seed from the colder countries yields a finer quality of oil. Linseed formed an See also:

ARTICLE (from Lat. articulus, a joint)

article of See also:

food among the Greeks and See also:

Romans, and it is said that the Abyssinians at the See also:

PRESENT

present See also:

day eat it roasted. The oil is to some extent used as food in See also:

Russia and in parts of See also:

Poland and See also:

Hungary. The still prevalent use of linseed in poultices for open wounds is entirely to be reprobated. It has now been abandoned by practitioners. The See also:

PRINCIPAL

principal objections to this use of linseed is that it specially favours the growth of micro-organisms. There are numerous clean and efficient substitutes which have all its supposed advantages and none of its disadvantages.

There are now no medicinal uses of this substance. Linseed cake, the See also:

MARE

mare See also:

LEFT

left after the expression of the oil, is a most valuable feeding substance for See also:

CATTLE (Norman Fr. catel, from Late Lat. capitale, wealth or property, a word applied in the feudal system to movable property and particularly to live stock, and surviving in its wider meaning as " chattel " or " chattle ")

cattle. Linseed is subject to extensive and detrimental adulterations, resulting not only from careless harvesting and cleaning, whereby seeds of the flax See also:

DODDER (Frisian dodd, a bunch; Dutch dot, ravelled thread)

dodder, and other weeds and See also:

GRASSES

grasses are mixed with it, but also from the See also:

DIRECT

direct admixture of cheaper and inferior oil-seeds, such as See also:

WILD, JONATHAN (c. 1682-1725)

wild rave, See also:

MUSTARD

mustard, See also:

SESAME

sesame, See also:

POPPY

poppy, &c., the latter adulterations being known in See also:

trade under the generic its value. Linseed oil, the most valuable'drying oil, is obtained by expression from the seeds, with or without the aid of See also:

HEAT (0. E. haktu, which like " hot," Old Eng. hat, is from the Teutonic type haita, hit, to be hot; cf. Ger. hitze, heiss; Dutch, hitte, heet, &c.)

heat. Preliminary to the operation of pressing, the seeds are crushed and ground to a See also:

FINE

fine See also:

MEAL

meal. See also:

COLD (in O. Eng. cald and ceald, a word coming ultimately from a root cognate with the Lat. gelu, gelidus, and common in the Teutonic languages, which usually have two distinct forms for the substantive and the adjective, cf. Ger. Kolte, kalt, Dutch koude

Cold pressing of the seeds yields a See also:

GOLDEN

golden-yellow oil, which is often used as an edible oil. Larger quantities are obtained by See also:

HEATING

heating the crushed seeds to 16o° F. (71 C.), and then expressing the oil. So obtained, it is somewhat turbid and yellowish-brown in colour. On storing, moisture and mucilaginous matter gradually See also:

settle out. After storing several years it is known commercially as " tanked oil," and has a high value in See also:

VARNISH

varnish-making. The delay attendant on this method of See also:

PURIFICATION

purification is avoided by treating the crude oil with i to 2 % of a somewhat strong sulphuric See also:

ACID (from the Lat. root ac-, sharp; acere, to be sour)

acid, which chars and carries down the bulk of the impurities.

For the preparation of " artist's oil," the finest form of linseed oil, the refined oil is placed in shallow trays covered with See also:

glass, and exposed to the See also:

ACTION

action of the See also:

sun's rays. Numerous other methods of purification, some based on the oxidizing action of See also:

OZONE

ozone, have been suggested. The yield of oil from different classes of seed varies, but from 23 to 28 % of the See also:

WEIGHT

weight of the seed operated on should be obtained. A See also:

GOOD, JOHN MASON (1764-1827)

good See also:

AVERAGE

average quality of seed weighing about 392 lb per See also:

QUARTER (through Fr. from Lat. quartarius, fourth part)

quarter has been found in practice to give out 109 lb of oil. Commercial linseed oil has a See also:

PECULIAR

peculiar, rather disagreeable See also:

sharp See also:

TASTE (from Lat. taxare, to touch sharply; tangere, to touch)

taste and See also:

SMELL (connected etymologically with " smoulder " and " smoke ")

smell; its specific gravity is given as varying from 0.928 to 0.953, and it solidifies at about -27°. By saponification it yields a number of fatty acids—palmitic, myristic, oleic, linolic, linolenic and isolinolenic. Exposed to the See also:

air in thin films, linseed oil absorbs See also:

OXYGEN (symbol 0, atomic weight 16)

oxygen and forms " linoxyn," a resinods semi-elastic, caoutchouclike See also:

mass, of uncertain See also:

composition. The oil, when boiled with small proportions of litharge and minium, undergoes the See also:

PROCESS

process of resinification in the air with greatly increased rapidity. Its most important use is in the preparation of oil paints and varnishes. By painters both raw and boiled oil are used, the latter forming the principal See also:

MEDIUM

medium in oil See also:

PAINTING

painting, and also serving separately as the basis of all oil varnishes. Boiled oil.is prepared in a variety of ways—that most common being by heating the raw oil in an See also:

IRON [symbol Fe, atomic weight 55.85 (0=16)]

iron or See also:

COPPER (symbol Cu, atomic weight 63.1, H=1, or 63.6, O = 16)

copper See also:

BOILER

boiler, which, to allow for frothing, must only be about three-fourths filled. The boiler is heated by a See also:

FURNACE

furnace, and the oil is brought gradually to the point of ebullition, at which it is maintained for two See also:

HOURS, CANONICAL

hours, during which time moisture is driven off, and the scum and froth which accumulate on the See also:

SURFACE

surface are ladled out.

Then by slow degrees a proportion of " dryers " is added—usually equal weights of litharge and minium being used to the extent of 3% of the See also:

charge of oil; and with these a small proportion of See also:

UMBER

umber is generally thrown in. After the addition of the dryers the boiling is continued two or three hours; the See also:

FIRE (in O. Eng. f j'r; the word is common to West German languages, cf. Dutch vuur, Ger. Feuer; the pre-Teutonic form is seen in Sanskrit pu, pavaka, and Gr. irup; the ultimate origin is usually taken to be a root meaning to purify, cf. Lat. purus)

fire is then suddenly withdrawn, and the oil is left covered up in the boiler for ten hours or more. Before sending out, it is usually stored in settling tanks for a few See also:

WEEKS, EDWIN LORD (1849-1903)

weeks, during which time the uncombined dryers settle at the bottom as " foots." Besides the dryers already mentioned, See also:

lead acetate, See also:

MANGANESE (symbol Mn; atomic weight, 54.93 (0=16)], a metallic chemical element. Its dioxide (pyrolusite)

manganese borate, manganese dioxide, See also:

ZINC

zinc sulphate and other bodies are used. Linseed oil is also the principal ingredient in See also:

PRINTING (from Lat. imprimere, O. Fr. empreindre)

printing and litho-graphic inks. The oil for See also:

INK (from Late Lat. encaustum, Gr. gysavorov, the purple ink used by Greek and Roman emperors, from iyKaiew, to burn in)

ink-making is prepared by heating it in an iron pot up to the point where it either takes fire spontaneously or can be ignited with any flaming substance. After the oil has been allowed to See also:

BURN, RICHARD (1709-1785)

burn for some time according to the consistence of the varnish desired, the pot is covered over, and the product when cooled forms a viscid tenacious substance which in its most concentrated form may be See also:

DRAWN

drawn into threads. By boiling this varnish with dilute nitric acid vapours of acrolein are given off, and the substance gradually becomes a solid non-adhesive mass the same as the ultimate oxidation product of both raw and boiled oil. Linseed oil is subject to various falsifications, chiefly through the addition of See also:

cotton-seed, See also:

niger-seed and See also:

HEMP (in O. Eng. henep, cf. Dutch hennep, Ger. Hanf , cognate with Gr. Kavval3er, Lat. cannabis)

hemp-seed See also:

OILS (adopted from the Fr. oile, mod. huile, Lat. oleum, olive oil)

oils; and See also:

ROSIN (a later variant of " resin," q.v.)

rosin oil and See also:

MINERAL

mineral oils also are not infrequently added. Except by smell, by See also:

CHANGE (derived through the Fr. from the Late Lat. cambium, cambiare, to barter; the ultimate derivation is probably from the root which appears in the Gr. «a urmu', to bend)

change of specific gravity, and by deterioration of drying properties, these adulterations are difficult to detect.

End of Article: LINSEED

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